Standard 4 pupil drowns in Lilongwe

A standard 4 learner from M’buka Primary School in Lilongwe was on Tuesday found floating in a dam at Mwenyekondo location near Dudu Estate in Lilongwe.

Lilongwe Police Station Spokesperson, Inspector Kingsley Dandaula identified the boy as Ashraf Thomson, 9, from Somba village in the area of Traditional Authority Malemia in Zomba district.

He said on Tuesday, the boy went swimming with friends at the dam which was dug by Mota Engil, a construction company, during project implementation in the location sometime back.

“When the boy drown, his friends run away and passersby noticed the body floating, removed it from the dam and reported the matter to police,” he said.

Police have since expressed concern over the increase of drowning cases and disclosed that Lilongwe Police have received four cases within a short period.

According to police records on October 20, 2016 unidentified boy drowned in Lingadzi river near Ntandire after he had gone for swimming with his friends.

Another boy, 12, Yoswa Chimwala from Chipunga village, TA Kalolo drowned in Lingadzi river, in the same area near Ntandire after he had gone for swimming with his friends.

Recently, 36 year-old Amosi Soliati from Chagwampwata village in the area of TA Kalolo drowned in a river after excessive drinking of local beer commonly known as Kachasu in Lilongwe

Inspector Dandaula said the deceased was coming from a drinking joint and fell off from a bridge due to staggering.

The Police are therefore advising parents and guardians not to let children to go swimming alone unless accompanied by the elderly and are further advising the public to be extra attentive during the rainy season.

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Mota Engil dug this ”dam”. I presume they were not digging a dam per se, but were exploiting gravel to build a road somewhere. Mota Engil also did the same on the Golomoti to Monkey Bay road and to date there are very deep “dams”. The requirement is that they should re-instate the ‘borrow pit’ once the work is done. Failure to re-instate the ‘borrow pit’ is reason to deduct a portion of their payment. But Mota Engil, being so well connected to the powers that be, never bothers anyway.